Community | News | StudentsOctober 11, 2024

UAFS Celebrates National Coming Out Day

Written By: Ian Silvester

October is LGBTQIA+ History Month in the United States. At the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, a registered student organization is celebrating people for being themselves and bringing awareness to the campus with an event to mark the 36^th anniversary of National Coming Out Day.

On Friday, PRIDE at UAFS hosted a Coming Out Day celebration, a welcoming event for everyone.

“Coming Out Day is more about making it your own version of how you want to come out and what coming out means to you,” said PRIDE at UAFS President Suhei Rivas, a junior Spanish major.

National Coming Out Day was first celebrated in 1988 and is an annual celebration of the courage displayed by those living openly as LGBTQIA+. Jean O’Leary and Dr. Robert Eichberg organized the holiday to mark the first anniversary of the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

Following in the footsteps of O’Leary and Eichberg, Suhei and members of PRIDE at UAFS want students to know that there are people who express who they are and that there are allies ready to welcome them.

“If people don’t have a safe space at home, when they come to UAFS, they have a community here that’s already built and safe for them to be who they are,” Suhei said.

Coming out to family and friends can be stressful, but PRIDE at UAFS hopes that events like this help make the experience liberating and joyful.

“We want (coming out) to be comfortable for everybody,” explained Kimberly Morales, a sophomore media communication major and PRIDE at UAFS social media manager.

PRIDE at UAFS has organized a free HIV and STD testing event for UAFS students beginning at 10 a.m. on Oct. 17 in the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center. The group will wrap up LGBTQIA+ History Month with a trivia and game night on Oct. 23 at 6 p.m. in room 122 of the Boreham Library.

The PRIDE Disco Rave will be from 6-10 p.m. on Nov. 16 at the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center in the Reynolds Room. Anyone interested in joining PRIDE at UAFS or learning more about the student organization can attend any event or meeting or connect on Instagram @prideatuafs.

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